Dinner

Hey blogosphere! Wow, it’s been a while! So sorry for those of you who have been waiting for recipe posts, I guess I’m not as good at juggling job, life and hobbies as I thought! Why is it that when we’re busy it’s always the things we love doing the most that get left behind?!

Saying that, I’ve been busy feeding my love of cooking in a different way in the past couple of weeks. I was lucky enough to go on a cooking course at Leiths School of Food and Wine and spend WHOLE DAYS doing what I love and learning from some amazing chefs – I was in absolute heaven! Turns out I even enjoyed gutting and filleting a fish – who’d have thought?!

I guess it wouldn’t be fair for me to have all that fun without sharing some of it on here, so I want to give you my version of one of my favourite things from the course……

That’s right, exactly one year ago today I packed my bags and moved my life from London to Zurich – seriously can’t believe it was a whole year ago!

What a year. Of course there is a LOT I miss about the UK, especially my wonderful family and friends – that can get pretty hard sometimes. BUT I have also started to fall a little bit in love with my cute village just outside Zurich with a farm and a field full of cows next door. I mean, I was never a city girl at heart.

Ok, so my German is still pretty rusty and I’m still getting used to some of the rules here (and the prices!), but hey, you can’t have everything right?!

Caramelized scallops? A creamy sherry risotto? AND tips to help you achieve absolute risotto perfection every time? What more could you possibly want this weekend?!

Risotto has been one of my favorite foods for a long time, and each time I cook it I am transported back to my student days in Pavia, a small town outside Milan in Italy. Every weekend, in true Italian style, we would line the length of the corridor with tables, the kitchen would be filled with people, chatter and incredible smells, and at around 2pm we would all sit down to a bowl of the most delicious risotto you can imagine. The life of an Italian student really is a whole world away from the typical junk-food diet English students so enjoy (not judging, been there, done that, got the tshirt!)

Once you know how to cook it just right, risotto is one of the finest foods you can get. Flavoring this simple version with sherry gives it a rich nutty flavor. Add some beautifully caramelized scallops and a brown butter and sherry sauce and you have the ultimate weekend dinner!…

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re anything like me, you are only just starting to think about what to do for your loved ones this weekend.

No worries though, you still have PLENTY of time to make these insanely good white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake truffles!

These will earn you some serious brownie points, and you also get to have fun making, and of course testing them – I’m talking endless opportunities for enjoying a cheeky spoonful of melted chocolate or cheesecake mix – just make sure you remember to leave some for Valentine’s Day!…

I have fond memories of pancake day a few years ago. It was the last day that my boyfriend and I spent together before nearly 6 months apart. We didn’t have much time before his flight, but I was determined to make breakfast pancakes before we left. Plus, what better way to use up those last few items in the fridge on moving day?!

We were struggling for any sort of tasty topping until we discovered some Kinder Reigel at the back of a cupboard. We thought those pancakes with melted kinder chocolate were the best invention since sliced bread – seriously, try it – mindblowing!! Anyway, those pancakes have now become a bit of a tradition in our house, and I would dedicate this whole post to those if I could, but hey, I’ve kind of already given away my secret ingredient so there wouldn’t be much point!

I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to share my recipe for the perfect British / French pancakes with you though, so, since we clearly already have our dessert pancakes sorted (I’ll get more creative with the sweet ones next year, promise), I thought I would try something savory on top instead. And boy am I glad I did!

Whilst it might not be a holiday I normally celebrate, I could hardly pass up the excuse to celebrate Chinese food. My favourite part of going for a Chinese meal in the UK, was, without a doubt, the crispy aromatic duck. The starters were always good, although I often lost the battle over who got the last spare rib and ended up eating spoonfuls of crispy “seaweed” (who knew that it was actually cabbage?!). By the main course, everyone was normally so full that we only managed a few mouthfuls of the endless dishes we thought it would be a good idea to order. But the crispy duck came at just the right time and was always the highlight of the meal for me.

You can imagine, then, how devastated I was when I moved to Zurich and found out that the British version of Peking duck has not made it beyond the Channel. Don’t get me wrong, when I finally got over the shock and tried the slices of duck breast that I was served in our local Chinese restaurant in Zurich, they were delicious, perhaps even (objectively) better than the strands of pulled duck and crispy skin that I had become so used to. But they just weren’t the same.

So, this Chinese new year I have decided to make my very own version crispy aromatic duck a-la England!…

Do you ever have those Friday nights when you get home after a long week feeling exhausted and absolutely starving? You know the ones I mean – ravenous, but desperate for as much time as possible snuggled up on the sofa, you search around for something delicious that you can eat right away, determined not to settle for cheese on toast? I know I do!

Not anymore! Meet my new best friend – a delicately cooked, healthy piece of salmon packed with a peppery punch and covered in a smooth, creamy sauce that ticks all the right yummy boxes! You can literally have this whisky salmon on the table in LESS THAN 15 MINUTES!! Dinner couldn’t be easier!

Ok, so for some of you, tomato soup might seem like nothing special. Even worse, a few of you may never have tried anything but the Heinz version!

That is all about to change.

I must say, it is no mean feat to create a soup which has my boyfriend (the guy who had all kinds of exotic soups every day of his childhood) literally daydreaming at his desk – that’s right, this tomato soup was SO GOOD that he spent the whole day drooling over his next fix!

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Hello – I’m Emily, fussy eater turned food lover! A few months ago I followed my heart and moved from London to a small town just outside Zurich in Switzerland, where my passion for cooking (and eating!) just keeps growing...